Upanishads · Rudrākṣajābāla 1.8
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्राह्मणाः क्षत्रिया वैश्याः शूद्राश्चेति शिवाज्ञया । वृथा जाताः पृथिव्यां तु तज्जातीयाः शुभाक्षकाः
Transliteration (IAST)
brāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyā vaiśyāḥ śūdrāśceti śivājñayā | vṛthā jātāḥ pṛthivyāṃ tu tajjātīyāḥ śubhākṣakāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्राह्मणाः क्षत्रियाः वैश्याः शूद्राः चbrāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyāḥ vaiśyāḥ śūdrāḥ cabrāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras
इति शिव-आज्ञयाiti śiva-ājñayāthus, by the command of Śiva
वृथा जाताः पृथिव्यां तुvṛthā jātāḥ pṛthivyāṃ tuarose of themselves on the earth
तत्-जातीयाः शुभ-अक्षकाःtat-jātīyāḥ śubha-akṣakāḥand of the same kinds are the auspicious seeds
Translation
Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras — thus, by the command of Śiva, arose of themselves on the earth; and auspicious seeds are of the same kinds.
Version
30dee7cd8dbb · published Aug 7, 2026, 2:26:09 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A dark line, and one must first speak of its text and then of its content. The words vṛthā jātāḥ mean literally "born in vain, for nothing"; others read them as "born of themselves, without cause." Neither reading comes out smoothly, and translations diverge here; the book itself explains nothing.
The content, however, is clear without settling the disputed word: the seeds are divided into four varṇas, like people. This transfer is made on a single basis — color, as the next line will say; and the word varṇa itself means "color." That is, before us is not theology but the extension of an everyday scheme onto an object: since everything is divided into four, let us divide the seeds too.
Let us say plainly why this is dangerous, for the next line will draw a conclusion from it. So far it is only said that seeds come in four kinds — this is as harmless as sorting apples by variety. But two lines on it will be said that a man may wear only the seed of his own kind — and that is already a prohibition by birth.
The Vaiṣṇava side does not deny that people are divided by qualities: the Gītā says the four estates were created "by the division of qualities and deeds" — guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (4.13). The emphasis there is on qualities and deeds, not on origin; and the Bhāgavatam commands directly that a person be recognized by the qualities he displays, not by whom he was born to (7.11.35).